BarcelonaThe League is coming to an end and Barça only have the obligation to finish in the top four, which gives access to the next Champions League, and the goal of being proclaimed runner-up, which would also allow for Barça to play in the Super Cup. The raison d’être of the remaining games is not the titles, but the homework and drawing conclusions for next season, which will no longer be transitional. In this particular fight is the role that may play in the future two players who have spent much of the course injured: Sergi Roberto and Ansu Fati.
The two are in the final stages of their respective recoveries, but the former has advanced more quickly and all indications are that he will be discharged to play against Rayo Vallecano this Sunday. If all goes well, he will be reunited with the public at the Camp Nou, who at the beginning of the school year even whistled at him for his refusal to lower his salary (an agreed reduction but subject to renewal, because his contract ends), as yes they had done the other captains of the squad.
The midfielder “goes like an arrow”, according to sources in the Barça dressing room who are pointing to ARA. He has been working alone for more than four months after undergoing surgery to completely clean up a muscle injury in his right rectum that had been making him squirm since the end of November 2020, when he broke his wanda in a match against Atletico Madrid. After that first tear, the Catalan footballer fell into the same problem up to three times. When Xavi Hernández took over the reins of the first team, his trusted doctor, Ricard Pruna, examined Roberto’s physical condition and told him that the best solution to his ailments was the surgery of an expert in the field. like Lasse Lempainen, who had already operated on Dembélé.
“He has played a lot of games with discomfort,” said the coach more than once about his former teammate, with whom he has 100% for next year. As a result of this interest, and as the player ends his contract on June 30, negotiations to renew it have revived. Of course, after this week’s contacts, the deal is still a long way off. Mateu Alemany’s offer is minimal: only one more year of contract, until 2023, and much lower emoluments than the current ones. Anything can happen, and the player wants to make arguments from the field.
All the optimism that exudes in Sant Joan Despí, Roberto’s recovery becomes prudent when the focus is on Ansu Fati, who has been working with the group for many more days than Reus and, on the other hand, still does not generate enough confidence. between technicians, physios and doctors to compete again. His case is particularly sensitive, as he decided not to have surgery to repair the muscle injury – associated with the ordeal of his meniscus – from which he fell to San Mamés in a Copa del Rey match.
Not wanting to visit the operating room for the fifth time in a year and a half, the Spanish-Guinean man pressed for conservative treatment with the recovering Joaquín Juan, with one foot in Madrid and the other in Barcelona, in the hope of help the team in the final stretch of the course. But the process has been slower than expected and Barça have opted for a zero risk policy, as Ansu is a capital footballer and another relapse would be a very hard blow not only for the club, but also for the player, who wants to go to the World Cup with the Spanish team.
Pedri, until the preseason; and fright with Araujo
Fati has been showing a good rhythm in training for days and has accumulated excellent sensations to play matches again. But more than against Rayo, his return to the pitch in official engagement is expected ahead of Mallorca’s visit to the Camp Nou on 1 May. Like Roberto, he also has options to be discharged on Sunday for Samuel Umtiti, who has already recovered from his injury in the fifth metatarsal. Who has already said goodbye to the season is Pedri, who broke his biceps femoris the night before against Eintracht.
Instead, who can play is Ronald Araujo. The midfielder had to be replaced by Anoeta after receiving a blow to the knee. There was much concern on the expedition, but medical examinations calmed the spirits. Finally, the tests carried out on him this Friday in Barcelona confirm that the Uruguayan footballer “has no injured knee”. Therefore, it is available to Xavi when he needs it.
